Ordinary Time Week 18

Psalm: Psalm 124 or Psalm 19:7-14
Old Testament: Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22
  or Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Gospel: Mark 9:38-50
Epistle: James 5:13-20


I want to talk about Esther this week because from what I can tell, this Sunday is the only time in the 3-year Lectionary cycle that any part of Esther is read! That is a little bit surprising, but after doing a little reading this week, it is less so. Esther is set in the Jewish diaspora following the first wave of Jews back to Jerusalem in 536 B.C, but before the events of Ezra and Nehemiah, which happened in roughly 458 and 432 respectively. The king in Esther is identified as Xerxes I, who rained from 486-465 and Esther was his wife from 478/479 to at least 473. So the Jews at this time were both in exile, but apparently doing well in the Persian Empire as shown in the example of Mordecai, but also some had begun to return to Jerusalem to start the work of restoration there.

Ordinary Time Week 17

Psalm: Psalm 1 or Psalm 54
Old Testament: Proverbs 31:10-31
  or Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22
  or Jeremiah 11:18-20
Gospel: Mark 9:30-37
Epistle: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

The Calendar may say that fall starts tomorrow, but there is no hint of any autumn air in Southern California. It is hot! But, that doesn't prevent us from reading the Bible. I want to focus in on the Gospel reading this week. In Mark 9:31, we have the second of Jesus' predictions of his suffering and death; the other 2 are found in 8:31 and 10:33-34. These 3 chapters actually lead us up to the Triumphal Entry in Mark 11, so these Passion predictions provide the framework with which Jesus and his disciples enter Jerusalem. But the context of these 3 predictions is interesting; There is the first prediction followed by the transfiguration, the second prediction followed by his disciples trying to get Jesus to stop other people from casting out demons in Jesus' name, and finally the last prediction followed a few verses later by James and John asking to be on Jesus' left and right when he comes into his Kingdom. (An event they no doubt thought was soon since they were on their way to Jerusalem, the place where the Messiah would announce his Kingdom.) I think in each case the episode revolves around the issue of power.

Ordinary Time Week 16

Psalm: Psalm 19 or Psalm 116:1-9
Old Testament: Proverbs 1:20-33 or Isaiah 50:4-9a
  or Wisdom of Solomon 7:26-8:1
Gospel: Mark 8:27-38
Epistle: James 3:1-12

 I want to discuss our Proverbs and Psalms readings this week because we haven't discussed them in awhile and especially the proverbs reading presents a lot of themes that are present throughout the book of Proverbs. Also, in terms of genre, the Epistle of James is in the same tradition as the Old Testament wisdom writings (Job, Psalms, Prov., Ecc., and Song of Sol.). And since we have been discussing James the last few weeks, I think it is appropriate to explore the tradition it flows out of.

First, let us look at Psalm 19: a Psalm of praise to the Lord. The Psalm begins by declaring that the heavens reveal the glory of God. This is an important point to make not only in our time, where the main counter-claim to that is atheism, but also in the time of the Psalmists where the prevailing wisdom was that nature itself was to be worshiped. Verse 4 says that "God has pitched a tent for the sun," and the implication is that the Lord is over the sun and thus there is no reason to worship it. The Israelites constantly struggled with idolatry and Psalms like this remind them and us that God is the Creator and to be worshiped.

Ordinary Time Week 15

Psalm: Psalm 125 or Psalm 146 
Old Testament: Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
  or Isaiah 35:4-7a 
Gospel: Mark 7:24-37 
Epistle: James 2:1-10, 11-13, 14-17

I am really enjoying reading through James the last few weeks. The author presents everything in a clear picture and always seems to be dealing with the practical issues of how we are to live. Today is no different. He begins with the exhortation not to so favoritism. The Church, or its individual members, shouldn't be partial to the rich, the powerful, the beautiful, or the strong. The worlds way of engaging in relationship is to ask what can I get out of the relationship. What can this person do for me? If I'm seen with that person will I be judged a certain way? But the way of the Kingdom is the exact opposite; the question is what can I do for them. Or maybe a better question is what is God already doing in them? Rich or poor, strong or weak, beautiful or plain, we are all created in the image of God and called to reflect that to creation. If the church engages in its relationships the same ways as the world, then it is no different from any social club and it fails to honor Christ. James reminds us also that God seems to be in the business of lifting the lowly, the poor, and the down-trodden